Rabbit Rescue

The Meat Rabbit Farm Buyout

On the 31st March 2012 the Sanctuary welcomed 300 ex-meat rabbits. Big Ears formed partnerships with Freedom for Farmed Rabbits & Radical Rabbit who helped raise the money which enabled Big Ears to purchase an operating meat rabbit farm, including the 300 rabbits and all equipment used in the cruel operation. The rabbits were living a cruel life of confinement similar to battery hens where they were continually bred in order for their babies to be slaughtered at 12 weeks of age.

The rabbit farming industry has a 40% mortality rate, higher than any other agriculture industry. Many of the rabbits were unwell and had to be immediately euthanased. Others required ongoing treatment for respiratory infections and abscesses.

It was fantastic to see the rabbits hopping, digging and eating fresh grass, all of which they were deprived of in the farm.

All the rabbits were desexed and vet checked and many had to have several courses of antibiotics. As of August 2015 Big Ears is still home to approx. 60 of these beuatiful bunnies.

All the groups involved in this buyout stand strong on the fact that the intensive factory farming of rabbits should be banned in Australia.

The photographs below show the meat farm setup and then the arrival and release of the rabbits.

Rabbit Rescue – January 2015

Our most recent rabbit rescue took place in January 2015. We were alerted to a situation in the South of the State where a man was keeping 30 rabbits in deplorable conditions underneath his house. He was breeding them to eat. The conditions which these rabbits lived in were nothing short of disgusting. One little rabbit stood out amongst all this filth because of his severe injuries. His name is Bundles and he has 3 seperate fractures to 3 of his legs and is unable to move around like a normal healthy bunny. The pictures below show the situation these animals were living in. Not one bunny was left behind and they all now reside at Big Ears. They were very afraid and slowly tamed. They lived on wire, with no sunlight or fresh air. They ate only pellets and drank from rusted cans. They lived on a bed of their own poop that had built up over years of neglect. The photo’s below show the conditions the rabbits were living in.